Make travelling with your children effortlessly enjoyable with these top tips for keeping kids entertained.
Minimise travel time
While long flights may be unavoidable depending on your destination, do your best to minimise travel time while you’re away. Car journeys of just a couple of hours can feel endless for young children especially, and hanging around at train stations and bus stops is sure to incite irritability.
Opting for a single-centre trip with one hotel – whether a city apartment, countryside retreat or all-inclusive beach resort – will help keep kids happy. This doesn’t mean limited activities – choose your location wisely and you’ll have plenty of opportunities on the doorstep.
Pack portable entertainment
For moments when you do have to wait around or take transport, portable entertainment can be a lifesaver!
Keen readers can be occupied for hours with a Kindle which provides access to lots of titles, can be adjusted to suit all light levels and is easier to carry than multiple books. Alternatively, children can listen to audiobooks and age-appropriate podcasts and music via smartphones and listening devices. You can also utilise a tablet pre-filled with episodes of their favourite show. For younger children, traditional toys can be just as effective as devices!
Plan a varied itinerary
Beating boredom during the day is as easy as avoiding repetition. Plan a varied itinerary and you dramatically reduce the risk of kids getting twitchy. However, be careful not to eliminate rest time – overtiredness could make children disinterested in activities.
A good rule of thumb is to go out in the mornings, especially in hot weather destinations where temperatures get uncomfortable by lunchtime. Food and games can occupy the middle of the day, and post-heat-of-the-day hours can be happily whiled away outside or by the pool.
You could also take the stress out of the holiday by choosing a trip with a pre-set itinerary such as a cruise or guided multi-stop tour. Leading providers like P&O Cruises have facilities and restaurants to suit kids of all ages and child-friendly excursions in each destination.
Choose suitable activities
As tempted as you might be by the hours-long cultural site tour, obscure museum or challenging hike, remember to put the needs of your children first if you want the whole family to enjoy the experiences. This isn’t to say that kids can’t enjoy attractions – just be careful to choose venues with child-friendly tours and activities that can sustain their attention throughout.
You’ll know what your family likes, but as a starting point activities that children are bound to love include engaging exhibitions, jeep tours through wildlife parks, easy but beautiful hikes and anything hands-on.
Capture key moments
Finally, generate interest in each element of the holiday by encouraging your kids to capture key moments. This could include taking photographs and videos, keeping a journal, creating a scrapbook with pictures and souvenirs or asking them to tell you their top three things about each day.
